LUCKNOW: A criminal case has been lodged against Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra and 12 others in Kanpur on the basis of a complaint given by one Rajesh Mishra alleging that false assurance about the safety of a four-wheeler led to the demise of his son in a road mishap.
The case could be lodged only after the complainant, who lost his son Dr Apoorv Mishra in an accident on January 14, 2022, approached a local court to get the order for lodging the case on Saturday. Even the dealership manager Anand Gopal Mahindra was among those booked at the Raipurwa police station in Kanpur.
According to the complaint of Rajesh Mishra, he bought a Black Mahindra Scorpio SUV for Rs 17.39 lakh on December 2, 2020, convinced about its security aspect after seeing advertisements and posts on social media by Anand Mahindra.
As per the complaint, Rajesh Mishra gifted the SUV to his son Dr Apoorv Mishra keeping in mind the advertisements and claims made on safety. “On January 14, 2022, my son Dr Apoorv was returning to Kanpur from Lucknow in the same SUV. Along with Apoorv, his friends were also in the car and all of them were wearing their seat belts (mentioned in the police report). Because of fog, the car hit the divider and turned turtle multiple times killing my son on the spot,” said the complaint.
The complainant has further said that he would have never bought the SUV if assurances of safety were not given. It also says that despite the occupants were wearing the seat belt, the airbags in the car didn’t open, resulting in his son’s death. Thus the company had cheated him by giving false assurances. It also said that it was found through sources that there were no airbags in the car.
The Raipurwa police lodged the FIR under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 287 (Negligent conduct with respect to machinery), 304-A (causing death by negligence), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 102-B (criminal intimidation). SHO, Raipurwa, Aman Singh, said the investigation in the case was on.
